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7, Number 2 June 2003 Electronic Resources Instructional Development Library Automation Media Booking Union Catalog Return to the INFOhio Central The RECORD is published by INFOhio, the Information Network for Ohio Schools, Theresa M. Fredericka, Executive Director. Making copies of this newsletter, in whole or in part, is encouraged. Please acknowledge or cite INFOhio. |
Media Booking service changes announced John Whyde, INFOhio's main technical support liaison for Medianet, is leaving the INFOhio family due to funding reductions from the State of Ohio. "John has served INFOhio for more than five years and has contributed greatly to the growth and effectiveness of our media booking component," said Theresa M. Fredericka, Executive Director. "During John's years with INFOhio, the media booking component has grown to include more than 40 customers -- state-funded agencies and several districts' centralized collections. John has been there every step of the way, setting up new databases, training new users, and supporting existing customers. Everyone in INFOhio wishes John the best with his new endeavors," Fredericka stated. The INFOhio Governing Advisory Board, projecting a 7.5% reduction in operating expenses and preparing for new priorities, eliminated the Medianet technical support liaison position. Duties will be shared by INFOhio's technical support staff, with Juanita Markham serving as the main media booking contact. Whyde was a staff member of Kent State University's Media Services Department for several years and has worked for Dymaxion, Inc., the company that provides INFOhio with the Medianet booking software. Currently, John is attending law school. He will continue working for INFOhio through the end of June. Area Media Centers receive two LSTA grants Ohio Instructional Area Media Centers (AMCs) have received two LSTA grants that strengthen their collections and increase accessibility to their resources. The Automation Grant provides MARC records in the INFOhio Union Catalog for all AMC holdings, an excellent source of non-print records for all librarians using the Union Catalog for copy cataloging. More importantly for teachers and students trying to locate media resources, the records reside in the “Lending Sites Bank” of the Union Catalog. Once a UC search is performed and the Lending Sites Bank results are displayed, a direct link (one click) displays all AMCs that own the title, and one more click opens an order screen to schedule classroom use. A formal announcement of the new capabilities of the Lending Site Bank will be part of INFOhio’s Fall Rollout. The Digital Grant is the second LSTA award that Ohio AMCs received. This effort will help resolve the problem of unavailable media titles, those already scheduled to other AMC patrons. The 24 Ohio AMCs are currently negotiating digital rights for the most used AV titles in digital format. Licenses will focus on seasonal titles that are in high demand during certain periods, such as Thanksgiving, Halloween, Safety, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Another emphasis will be tiles that relate to curriculum areas that support the current proficiencies and Ohio’s new content standards. Links to the digital versions of the
titles will be available in the INFOhio Union Catalog, making them easy to find with
online searching strategies. Once a desired title is located, the digital version can be
streamed or downloaded to the user’s computer for convenient use. The actual list of
digital titles will be available for streaming and downloading in September 2003. Watch
the INFOhio Web page “New and Upcoming” section and your INFOhio and OELMA listservs
for an official announcement of this new service. |